Underestimated
by Transformersfan123
Summary: Hidden beneath Archie's brace are scars that few know of. Herry catches a glimpse of something and wonders what the warrior has hidden under the golden brace.


This is a request for HoneyGoddess57. I hope she enjoys the story. *smiles* And I am very eager for other requests, as it helps me branch into even more details I can use for my main Class of the Titans storyline which is 'Secrets of the Forest'. Anywho, any requests I'll take. If I need to see a specific episode, please tell me which it is, though I've seen just about all of them. Please enjoy the story.

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Archie yawned and stretched as he got up, flinching at the twinge his ankle gave him when he put weight on it without his brace. Immediately he shifted all his weight to his left foot, not feeling like falling flat on his face so early in the morning. After grabbing his brace, which was somehow all the way across the room, he carefully lowered himself to the floor, taking off his sock to gently snap it on his ankle. When he didn't collapse when he put weight on his right foot, he hurried out of the room, quickening his pace to beat Neil into the bathroom.

"Hey!" the blond boy whined when the door slammed in his face.

"Too slow!" Archie teased as he locked the door.

The purple-haired boy ignored Neil's complaints and turned on the shower, sighing as the warm steam filled the room. He stripped down quickly, leaving his brace on, and stepped into the shower, his body automatically relaxing as the hot water ran over it. Archie quickly washed himself everywhere he could before sitting down and taking off the brace, setting it on the edge of the tub. The ragged scars that traced down his leg and wrapped around his ankle brought back old memories, causing the boy to growl in rage before shaking them away and tenderly washing the rest of his leg. As he snapped the brace back on, he noticed that Neil's whining had gotten louder and more insistent. Archie rolled his eyes.

"Just a sec, Neil!" Archie called through the door as he wrapped himself in a towel. He grabbed his clothes and opened the door to see a very agitated Neil.

"Ugh! You take forever!" the blond hero exclaimed.

"I do not," Archie replied indignantly. "You take at least an hour, and that's when you're hurried! I was in there fifteen minutes!"

"I actually have to look good though," Neil replied.

Archie rolled his eyes again and stepped aside, jumping when Herry rushed past him into the bathroom. Neil wailed in anger and started pounding on the closed door, yelling about how it was his turn. Archie laughed as he walked back to his room, shutting the door behind him. He dressed quickly, hurrying out to grab some of Athena's delicious pancakes. That goddess was an amazing cook, and nobody could dispute that. Jay, Atlanta, Theresa, and Odie were already there. Jay smiled up at the warrior and offered the empty chair between him and Odie, but the violet-eyed boy took the chair on the other side of Odie. Jay looked upset.

"I've already said I'm sorry," he said softly, causing the others to look at him.

Archie shrugged. "Whatever," he mumbled. He was still uncomfortable around Jay, even though it had been a couple weeks since the leader had lost control.

Jay sighed as Herry joined them, plopping down into the chair beside him. The descendant of Hercules wasted no time in scarfing down as many pancakes as he could get his hands on. Archie quickly finished and excused himself, slightly disgusted by the strong teen's eating habits. He debated for a moment before deciding he was going to jog to school. It would give him a chance to be alone and collect his thoughts before class, which would be good. He jogged out of the dorm after making sure his PMR was in his pocket. The way to school was mostly empty, much to the warrior's relief. Or it was a relief until a dark shadow leaped out of an alley and attacked him.

Archie gave a yell and leaped backwards, automatically going for his whip. He flung it at the creature, but the dark thing ducked and leaped at his weakest point: his ankle. The thing's jaws clamped over the gold and bit down. By some miracle, the brace snapped open with no damage, but the creature tossed it away and tried to bite his ankle again. Archie kicked out as hard as he could with his left foot, catching the shadow thing in the jaw and flinging it away from him. There was a shout and suddenly Herry was on top of the thing, pinning it to the ground. The creature bit down on the dark-skinned boy's arm, drawing blood and causing Herry to draw away with a cry of pain. When it was free, the thing leaped away and disappeared down the same alley it had appeared in. Archie was clutching his right leg close, hiding the scars as best he could, while Herry was trying to staunch the blood flowing out of the bite.

"You okay, Arch?" Herry asked when the blood-flow had finally stopped.

"Yeah," Archie said shakily. "J-just go get my brace."

Herry quickly did as he was asked. "Here ya go, Arch."

"Thanks," Archie muttered, waiting for the strong boy to turn away.

Herry blinked. "Aren't ya gonna put it on?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Of course," Archie replied, fishing for something to make Herry turn away. "Hey, you should call Jay and tell him about this."

"Oh. Yeah," Herry said, getting out his PMR and calling the leader.

When Archie heard Jay's voice become frantic, he quickly put his brace back on. When he had snapped it into place, he looked up to see intense chocolate brown eyes staring at him. There was a screech of tires stopping and Theresa and Odie jumped out of the smooth red sports car. The descendant of Odysseus helped Archie up, the purple-haired boy shoving Odie aside, determined to walk by himself, and he cried out when pain shot up his leg from his ankle. As he was falling, Herry grabbed him and set him back on his feet. Archie shivered as he felt blood oozing down his leg. He really didn't to bring attention to the fact he was hurt, so he dropped down into the seat of the car, crossing his right ankle over his left knee to keep the blood from running out. Herry sat down beside him, staring intently at the golden brace.

The ride to the school was quick, and soon they were walking through the halls of the 'special' section of the school. Archie said he needed to use the bathroom, dashing into the room when he got the okay. He locked the door behind him before jumping up on the counter and taking off the brace. He groaned softly when he saw the inside drenched with blood. He looked at his right leg, which was over the sink and gasped. The parts of his leg covered by the brace was nothing but blood. He turned on the faucet, his face paling when he saw what the cause of all the blood was: every single scar had been reopened. He quickly slid to the floor and rummaged through the cabinets, pulling out bandages and quickly wrapped it over the scars. After that, he washed his brace, dried it, and put it on again before going out. Jay was waiting for him and escorted him to see Chiron, every step an agonizing jolt of pain. The centaur was neatly wrapping Herry's arm when they came in.

"Hello Archie. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," the warrior said.

"Odie tells me you nearly collapsed. Something wrong with your leg?" Chiron asked, turning to look at the purple-haired boy.

"Nah. I'm just a bit shaken," Archie replied, easily hiding the pain.

"Well, perhaps you and Herry should go back to the dorms today. Take it easy for today," Chiron said after a pause.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Archie hummed to himself as he read over a few of Homer's hymns to the gods. Athena was out and Herry was playing video games in his room. The violet-eyed warrior was on Hermes' hymn, and couldn't help but laugh when Apollo confronted the newborn about stealing his precious cattle. A shadow fell over the pages of the book, and the warrior looked back to see Herry staring at him, his brown eyes intently focused on his brace.

"Umm, hey," Archie said.

"Hey. What's so funny?" Herry asked.

"Oh...Hermes and Apollo," the warrior mumbled.

"What're ya readin'?"

"Homer's hymn to Hermes."

Herry didn't seem to register anything Archie had said, but he still said, "Neat." There was a pause. "What's under the brace?"

Archie flushed. "Err, my leg," he said evasively.

"I saw something," Herry said bluntly.

"What're you talking about?" Archie snapped defensively.

"Take it off," Herry demanded.

"No! I don't have to listen to you!" Archie snarled.

Herry growled and leaped at the thin boy. Archie dove aside, keeping out of reach of the strong teen, but just barely. His ankle was hurting so badly, and the running wasn't helping. There was a horrible burst of pain and Archie collapsed, crying out in agony. Herry stood above him for a moment before kneeling down and flipping the warrior over. His dark eyes were focused and had more intelligence in them than anybody gave him credit for.

"Let go!" Archie ground out through the pain as Herry grabbed his right leg.

The dark boy ignored him, carefully prying off the brace to see the hastily wrapped bandages. He easily tore them off then froze. His eyes grew round and he dropped Archie's leg. The movement was so abrupt that Archie couldn't stop his leg from hitting the floor. Sharp, immediate, nauseating pain shot through him when his ankle made contact with the floor, and a scream was torn violently from his throat, high and piercing. The pain was mind-numbingly horrible, and he was relieved when sweet darkness took him away from it.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Archie woke up in a warm bed, a cool washcloth on his forehead. He slowly opened his eyes, squinting into the brightly sunlit room. He sat up slowly, the feeling of nausea lingering. Looking around the room, he realized he didn't recognize it. The warrior was brought out of his thoughts when a gentle hand pressed against his shoulder.

"You okay?" Herry asked.

Archie nodded. "Yeah. What happened?"

"I, err, dropped your leg," Herry muttered sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Archie noticed his leg brace lying on the bedside table and paled. He shoved Herry away and moved his right leg out over the side of the bed. The scars were even paler than his normal skin tone, causing them to stand out. Archie looked up at Herry and was torn between anger, humiliation, and tears. Herry bit his bottom lip and felt guilty at Archie's distraught behavior.

"Hey, I'm sorry," he said softly.

"Shut up!" Archie hissed as tears slipped out of his violet eyes. "Just shut the fuck up!"

"No," Herry said. "Talk to me, Arch. What's wrong?"

"Do you know how hard I've worked to keep this secret?" Archie hissed. "How many times I've lied to you all?"

"I can guess," Herry replied then wrapped an arm around Archie's shoulders, ignoring the thin boy's attempts to throw his arm off. "How'd ya get them?"

"_That_ is none of your business. I don't need you telling everybody my secrets," Archie snapped, swiping at the tears angrily.

"You know, Arch, I can keep secrets," Herry replied. "You can trust me. Please, trust me." Herry's brown eyes again showed a depth of intelligence that Archie wasn't used to seeing, and before he knew it, he was talking.

"I was happy with my family, ya know? It was normal. At least I thought it was. My mom stayed at home and took care of chores and me when I was younger. My father worked, and it was a hard job. 'That's why he comes home drunk', mom told me. I didn't like him when he was drunk. He was cruel and horrible to mom, beating her and..." Archie swallowed. "Forcing her to have sex with him. He didn't care if it was right in front of me. He's actually the reason I'm afraid of water. He pushed me out of a boat while we were on a fishing trip. I was four." Archie paused and took a deep breath. "He came home really drunk one night. It was horrible. He beat mom violently, and I tried to stop him. He looked at me and called me worthless before pulling a knife. I ran, but he grabbed my right leg and started to drag the knife in it over and over. Then he got to my heal and slashed it in the same spot. I remember pain then waking up in a hospital three days later. I found out mom had died from her wounds and dad was in jail.

"I went to live with my grandparents, using crutches and wheelchairs for a long time because of my inability to walk-he'd sliced through my Achilles tendon-until a stranger came to me while I was sulking near, but not too near, a pond one day. I know now it was Hermes, but at the time I had no idea. I was afraid until he touched me. Then I was calm. Calm and unafraid. I watched as he constructed something of gold. It was a brace he put it on my right foot, covering up all the scars from the attack.

'While you have this on,' he said, 'you can walk.'

'Who are you?' I asked softly.

Hermes smiled. 'You'll know in a few years, Archie.' He turned to leave then paused and looked back at me. 'Oh, and reading up on Greek poetry isn't something to be embarrassed about. I suggest the Homeric hymns next.'"

Herry stared at Archie for a moment. "Wow."

"You probably think I'm dumb now," Archie sighed, tracing a scar that trailed up his shin.

"No," Herry replied matter of factly. "That thought never even crossed my mind."

"Why not? It's stupid, damn it! It's stupid and dumb! I-I-" Archie was stopped by a hand over his mouth.

"You're my friend, Arch. I don't care if your past is screwed to Hades. I don't care if you have scars. I don't care if you're afraid of water. You're my friend, and that's all that matters."

Archie looked into the serious brown eyes and felt the dam break. He found himself sobbing uncontrollably, and he was suddenly wrapped in a warm bear-like hug. It felt good to release his emotions like this. He'd never talked about what had happened to him with anyone before, not even his grandparents, or even Pan, who'd become a good friend of his. Herry held him until the tears stopped flowing, and then Archie pulled back and wiped his face.

"Thanks, Herry," he whispered softly, unable to look at his friend.

"No problem," Herry said warmly. "I know what holding back is like. Sometimes you just need to let it all out."

"Yeah." Archie paused. "Would-would you not tell anybody about this? I mean, can this just be between us?"

"Sure, if you want."

"Thanks," Archie said, smiling happily.

"Want me to wrap your leg up?" Herry said after a few moments of silence.

"Would you?"

"Sure. Be right back."

Herry left the room and came back with fresh bandages and ointment. He carefully and neatly wrapped up the open wounds after smearing the creamy medicine over the cuts, patting Archie's leg when he was done. The purple-haired boy rolled his eyes and reached for his brace, snapping it into place with practiced ease. Herry looked out the window thoughtfully.

"Hey Arch?"

"Yeah?"

"I've, uh, never really gotten that Greek poetry stuff. Maybe you could explain it to me?" Herry looked slightly embarrassed.

"Sure. If you want to," Archie said excitedly.

"Let's go then," Herry laughed, picking the warrior up easily and causing him to yelp.

Archie smiled as he was carried to the living room. This could lead to a close friendship, and the violet-eyed warrior looked forward to it, even if he wasn't sure he was ready. That look of knowledge in Herry's eyes let him know that everybody seriously underestimated the descendant of Hercules.


End file.
